(Submitted photo)
Past and present officers of the Friends of the Almon Starr Historic House met recently to celebrate 30 years of keeping a watchful eye on the circa 1868 Almon Starr House and the Saginaw Indian Trail located on the property.

The Friends of the Almon Starr Historic House have decided to end their relationship as the watchful eye over the 1868-era Royal Oak home and the Saginaw Indian Trail that runs adjacent to the property.
A short program at the marker for the Saginaw Indian Trail was held recently to celebrate 30 years of the nonprofit group handling the affairs of the house and trail at 3123 Crooks Road in Royal Oak.

“We decided to end our relationship as a group and turn it over to the Royal Oak Historical Society,” said Dr. David Penney, member of the Friends of the Almon Starr Historic House. “We’ve been a watchdog group for the house, the boulder (marker), the land, and the trail — all there at the site.”

Penney, who has written four books on the history of Royal Oak, said he performed a site survey back in 1978 when he was on the Royal Oak Historical Commission on both the Orson Starr and Almon Starr houses.

“Many of the historical sites I surveyed are now gone,” Penney said. “We felt the two Starr houses and Royal Oak Cemetery were important to keep around.”

A group of volunteers joined Penney at the program, including the three original co-founders of the Friends of the Almon Starr Historic House: Penney, Lois Lance and Kent Rathbun. Also in attendance were current FASHH secretary George Hoelars, his wife, Joan; Fred and Shirley Penney; David Penney’s wife, Linda May; as well as Joan Larson, Charlotte Opie and Tom Regan.

“We essentially held a business meeting,” Penney said. “We decided to end the incorporation at the end of this year. I think we accomplished something for the history of Royal Oak.”

The Almon Starr House is owned by attorneys Donald Chisholm and Edward Shuttie, but before the City of Royal Oak sold the house in 1985 they passed a resolution placing restrictions on portions of the land.

One of its most significant contributions to the Almon Starr House was when FASHH raised funds to install a boulder on the site commemorating it as the last visible remnant of the Saginaw Indian Trail. The bronze plaque was set into the boulder describing its history.

“The last visible remnant of the Saginaw Indian Trails .... Almon Starr’s great-grandsons gathered many arrowheads as they played on this ground,” said Dr. James R. Halset, who came from Lansing to inspect the sight.

The paths on the south lawn were made by Native Americans walking from Detroit to the Lake District in Pontiac and eventually Saginaw, Penney said.

Now, after 30 years, the Friends are terminating their incorporation and will turn over their archives and assets to the Royal Oak Historical Society, which will take over the responsibility of continuing commemoration and “watch dogging” the valuable Indian Trail and the Almon Starr House.

“I would hope it is preserved for prosperity,” Hoelars said. “I would hope it’s not up to the current owners — I think it’s bigger than any private interest. Hopefully, it is preserved for generations to come.

“There are restrictions put on the property of what can be done with it. It’s on the Michigan Register of Historical Places. But as we all know those things can be circumvented. I don’t think it will, but we are just getting older and can no longer continue. Lois (Lance) is 96 years old and we (George and Joan Hoelars) are in our 80s — there’s only so much we can do in our lifetime. It’s time to move on.

“We have to rely on the Royal Oak Historical Society to maintain it and not do things with it that they’re not supposed to. They sent a letter of support to us.”

Hoelars said FASHH didn’t accomplish all its goals, but certain preservation protections are in place.

“We didn’t achieve what we set out to do, but we did what we could do,” Hoelars said. “We got protections on the property from the city. To my knowledge nothing has been in discussion on its future. But young people don’t have time for it. We wonder how we did it. Certainly it’s an end of an era.”

Hoelars said the remains of the Indian Trial are currently being filled in by Mother Nature.

“There’s no traffic on it and eventually it’s going to be filled in,” Hoelars said. “The trail starts at the corner of Crooks Road and goes northwest across the property about 100 feet in front of the house and gets flattened out. There is so little left when it comes to native culture. What we have is mostly in wood, leather, and this trail is just one of the last remnants left — even sacred.”

Tom Regan, current FASHH president, has been involved with the group for the last two years.
“Tom’s our watchdog who lives behind the home,” Hoelars said. “Besides me, Lois Lance, Kent Rathbun and David Penney (at the ceremony), we also had Joan Larson, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Estell Merigian, whose husband was a legal adviser for us in 1983; and Charlotte Opie, a former treasurer — people who helped preserve the history.”

According to a historic marker on the site, John Almon Starr (1828-1895) and his wife, Nancy Quick (1831-1895), built the house in 1868 from bricks fired in Almon’s tile factory. Almon and his parents had immigrated to Michigan from Richmond, N.Y., in 1831, the same year Nancy was born in Royal Oak Township. Almon and his father, Orson Starr, manufactured animal bells until 1866, when Almon started his brickyard and tile works at this location, later known as Starr Corners. The house was occupied by the Starr family until 1967.

The house had a “for sale” sign on its front lawn in 1982. But a small group led by Penney helped formed the Friends of the Almon Starr Historical House. The group included Steve Finlay, then an editor with the Daily Tribune, who was elected chairman.

“The Starr family lived in the house until the mid-’60s,” Hoelars said. “It was owned by an Armenian social club. But the city already owned the Orson Starr House (located on Rochester Road), so when we took over as a volunteer group, we wanted to make sure the Almon House remained as it was as much as possible.”

Five years later, the FASHH group pursued the city to renovate the Almon House and turn it into a museum. A set of 12 paintings by Mildred Nelson, a Royal Oak resident from 1920-’72, were given to the Friends for a fundraiser to save the house.

In 2010, the paintings were exhibited at the Royal Oak Historical Society. Lois Lance, who wrote a booklet describing the paintings (along with Gloria Moran Harper), said the paintings show a piece of history in Royal Oak.

Still, despite the intentions of FASHH and testimony from architects, archeologists and historians regarding the land, the city sold the house and the 1.3 acres.

“For the price they sold that land we all (at FASHH) said we could have written a check,” Hoelars said. “We didn’t, and now it’s up to the current owners (attorneys Chisholm and Schuttie) to preserve its history.”